Shalimar Millésime Iris, from Guerlain was released in 2023. The perfumer behind this creation is Delphine Jelk. It has the top notes of Bergamot, middle notes of Orris Root, and base notes of Caramel, Musk, Vanilla, and Vanillin.
I will first note that I don't care for the original Shalimar (or at least the Shalimar I have smelled, which I am aware is not the original-original.) So I would just prefer to think of Millésime Iris as its own thing. At first sniff, this is a real bombastic towering vanilla powdered wig spectacle of a Sofia Coppola Marie Antoinette confection, but there’s something kind of tacky and trashy about it too, like it’s all that “ Let them eat cake” audacious opulence filmed through a mob-wife leopard print suede purse Instagram filter of a reality tv show, thick with manufactured drama and desperate thirst. It’s a sort of sticky, gilded Versailles meets Jersey Shore dumpster fire of a fragrance. And believe it or not, initially, when I was testing it…I didn’t hate it. Later in the evening, I smelled a smoky woody vanilla floral phantom masterclass of luxury and beauty wafting from my sweater cuff, and I nearly swooned. DEAR GOD WHAT IS SO INTOXICATING, I thought. Surprise! It was that tabloid headline trending hashtag of a vanilla from earlier in the day! Millésime Iris, you contain multitudes, and I am here for all of them.
I will first note that I don't care for the original Shalimar (or at least the Shalimar I have smelled, which I am aware is not the original-original.) So I would just prefer to think of Millésime Iris as its own thing. At first sniff, this is a real bombastic towering vanilla powdered wig spectacle of a Sofia Coppola Marie Antoinette confection, but there’s something kind of tacky and trashy about it too, like it’s all that “ Let them eat cake” audacious opulence filmed through a mob-wife leopard print suede purse Instagram filter of a reality tv show, thick with manufactured drama and desperate thirst. It’s a sort of sticky, gilded Versailles meets Jersey Shore dumpster fire of a fragrance. And believe it or not, initially, when I was testing it…I didn’t hate it. Later in the evening, I smelled a smoky woody vanilla floral phantom masterclass of luxury and beauty wafting from my sweater cuff, and I nearly swooned. DEAR GOD WHAT IS SO INTOXICATING, I thought. Surprise! It was that tabloid headline trending hashtag of a vanilla from earlier in the day! Millésime Iris, you contain multitudes, and I am here for all of them.